Newsletter No. 45

 HALCROW PENSIONERS ASSOCIATION 

 Newsletter No. 45 : April 2021

This is a newsletter of the Halcrow Pensioners Association. More details of HPA's objectives, organisation and its activities are here. You have been sent this newsletter because you may be a member of the Halcrow Pension Scheme or its successor, HPS2 or be a former member of HPS who has transferred to the PPF. Membership of HPA is open to all interested HPS / HPS2 members and currently costs £10/year (only for those joining in 2021 as those who paid during 2020 have been given a subscription holiday as explained in Newsletter No. 43).  If you do not wish to receive the HPA newsletters then please email the webmaster to remove your name from the mailing list.

Reminder of 2021 Annual General Meeting
In accordance with HPA's constitution, the Annual General Meeting shall take place in April. It is proposed to adopt the format used previously of a virtual meeting in a sub-forum of the HPA forum to which only paid-up members of HPA will be given access. The meeting will be the member's annual opportunity to contribute to the direction and operation of HPA. The 2021 AGM will be held in the HPA forum between 24th and 30th April. The proposed schedule, which has been based on the pace of previous AGMs, for the meeting is:

The agenda is here and links to the other documents will be posted in the HPA forum prior to the commencement of the AGM. Nominations or proposed items to be discussed at the AGM can be posted in the 2021 AGM forum to provide opportunity for others to view and, if appropriate, comment on them. Alternatively, please email them (also any apologies) to the secretary. HPA will be celebrating its 10th birthday during the coming year and it's time to examine the future. The HPA committee has done some brainstorming and the AGM is the opportunity for the members to provide their views on the direction and strategy of HPA. Please attend and provide your input. HPA is also in urgent need of some new blood on the committee. Why not offer your services?

The HPS2 Triennial Review
There has been no further news about the HPS2 Triennial Review which should have been finalised by 31 Mar 2021 and is therefore is now overdue. The Pensions Regulator should have been notified (see TPR advice Failing to Agree) but there is no legal requirement to inform scheme members. However, the Trustee should heed the advice given here by the Pensions Regulator and provide information to scheme members.

Buy-Ins, Buy-Outs and Superfunds
There is a increasing trend, amongst companies with large pension schemes (e.g., Rolls Royce, British Airways, Siemens, ASDA), to offload these schemes to other specialist businesses such as insurance companies or so-called ‘superfunds’ (very large agglomerated pensions funds). This is done to transfer the considerable risk inherent in running a pension scheme to organisations more able manage that risk either because risk management is their core business (e.g., insurance companies) or because they have a greater critical mass (superfunds). Given this trend, it is not impossible that a company such as Jacobs may go down this road in future. That being the case you may wish to familiarise yourself with the various transfer schemes available. To this end one of the HPA committee has prepared a briefing note on ‘buy-Ins’, ‘buy-outs’ and superfunds (mentioned in Newsletter 43) comparing some of the options which you can read here. 

 The Future of HPA
The need for HPA continues and among the possible ongoing tasks to look after HPA members' interests are:
1.    To keep HPA members informed about HPS2 and other pension-related matters.
2.    To closely monitor HPS2, the HPS2 Trustee and Jacobs UK (the scheme sponsoring company) to see whether adequate contributions are being made to the pension schemes. This could soon become a significant risk as the ongoing HPS2 triennial review could identify the need for increased company contributions. If there is a risk then we would raise a red flag with the Trustee and those responsible for oversight of pension schemes.
3.    To examine and comment on proposals for changes to pension-related laws or regulations where we think they would affect our interests.
4.    Take opportunities to press for better supervision of pension schemes and their sponsoring companies.
5.    To follow the potential changes in pension scheme rules arising from the Hampshire vs PPF and Bauer court decisions.

Previous Newsletters
If you haven't been with HPA from the start or want to remind yourself of previous events then you can browse through the previous newsletters for which there is a full list here.